Arts Education Programs

Workshops, Residencies,

Arts Coaching & Performances

Exploring World Cultures through Music (Workshop I and II)

(Developed in association with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts) National Roster with the Kennedy Center

Workshop I: India, SeneGambia (a West African region), and Brazil Workshop II: The Yoruba people of Cuba, Ga people of Ghana, West Africa and Shona people of Zimbabwe, South Africa.Teachers: 3 hours of Instruction Time for each workshop (may be presented alone or as a pair)Maximum number of workshop participants: 35Grade Levels: 1-5Students: 45 - 50 minutes per classResidency Length: Minimum of 5 daysMaximum number of students per class: 25

These two fascinating workshops give teachers a tremendous new way to bring young people into the living, breathing vitality of other cultures. Both workshops reflect the importance of global awareness and supports collaboration, creativity, and cross-cultural education – 21st Century learning skills. Teachers are guided in an immersive and engaging authentic learning process to explore the rich diversity of cultures through traditional children’s songs, rhythms, stories, and artifacts. Students learn about the lifestyles and values of children in these faraway countries and come to appreciate the similarities and differences between these cultures and their own.

Note: A copy of the compact discs and books Dhimiki and Iyipo Ayé, along with teacher study guides containing lyrics and background information on the cultures, must be provided for each teacher at an additional cost.

Exploring Native American Cultures through Music

Teachers: 1.5 to 3 hours of Instruction Time Maximum number of workshop participants: 35Grade Levels: 1-5Students: 45 - 50 minutes per classResidency Length: Minimum of 5 daysMaximum number of students per class: 25

Explore and experience the cultures of such Nations as the Seminole, Cherokee, Hopi, Crow, Iroquois and more, through their music, rhythms, stories (legends), and artifacts. Students learn about the customs and traditions of these Native people and come to appreciate the similarities and differences between these cultures and their own.

Cultural Program for Special Education

Teachers: 1.5 hours of Instruction Time Maximum number of participants: 25Age Levels: 2-10Students: 30 minutes per classResidency Length: Minimum of 5 daysMaximum number of students per class: 15

This workshop introduces students with developmental delays including autism, speech impairments and physical disabilities to traditional world music and rhythm. The students experience the usage of sounds; learn songs and different rhythms using hand percussive instruments to create their own music. Each class is tailored to meet the unique needs of the students.

Jazz Jam

Teachers: 3 hours of Instruction Time Maximum number of workshop participants: 35Grade Levels: 1-5Students: 45 - 50 minutes per classResidency Length: Minimum of 5 daysMaximum number of students per class: 25

This fun and interactive workshop features an introduction and understanding of the evolution of the different styles in jazz music. It traces the roots and origins of jazz and its eras from African chants, work songs, spirituals, blues, swing, to bebop. Learn songs from each era and feel the richness and importance of this American culture and how it has affected us. Create a timeline of each era and compose your own Blues. By the end of this session, you will have strategies on how to bring jazz into the classroom, the importance of this American music, the culture and times from which this music occurred, and how it has affected us.

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers: 1.5 hours of Instruction Time Maximum number of workshop participants: 35Grade Levels: 2-5For Students: 45 - 50 minutes per classResidency Length: Minimum of 5 daysMaximum number of students per class: 25

This fascinating workshop demonstrates the importance of the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement that spanned the 1920’s and 1930’s, through its music, literature, and visual arts. Discover the contributions of the icons and relive this exciting period by listening, singing, reciting poetry, and creating sounds and rhythms to the artwork, The Migration Series, by Jacob Lawrence. Storytelling with Proverbs and Adinkra Symbols

Teachers: 1.5 to 3 hours of Instruction Time Maximum number of workshop participants: 35Grade Levels: 2-8Students: 45 - 50 minutes per classResidency Length: Minimum of 5 daysMaximum number of students per class: 25

This exciting hands-on workshop invites teachers to dig deep into storytelling, using proverbs and Adinkra symbols from Ghana, to use as visual makers as a way to express their beliefs, attitudes and thoughts. Draw upon traditional literary genres that models expressive use of language. Learn the important use of proverbs and symbols as a tool which aids students in building their own stories that reflect their understanding of moral values and illustrates their creative ideas, aspirations, and thoughts.

Building Imagery Interpretation through Sound and RhythmTeachers: 1.5 hours of Instruction Time Maximum number of workshop participants: 35Grade Levels: 1-5Students: 45 - 50 minutes per classResidency Length: Minimum of 5 daysMaximum number of students per class: 25

Examine ways to help students interpret non-objective art through the use of vocal sounds and body rhythms. Using the artwork of Wassily Kandinsky, explore ways to help students learn how to create rhythmic phrases to colors, shapes, and lines to give a deeper meaning to the imagery. Building Reading Comprehension through Sound and Rhythm(Developed in association with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts) CETA Roster with the Kennedy Center

Teachers: 3 hours of Instruction Time Maximum number of workshop participants: 35Grade Levels: 1-5Students: 45 - 50 minutes per classResidency Length: Minimum of 5 daysMaximum number of students per class: 25

Enhance student learning by using sound and rhythm to explore ways to help students develop reading comprehension strategies and make connections between music and language. Teachers are guided through a process to help students create a Soundscape, a way to retell the story that connects students to the story’s tone, mood, setting, and the characters’ culture(s). This learning process will help students attend to sensory images, use questioning strategies, respond to inference, and determine importance which helps students develop a better understanding of the text. Using the 21st Century Learning Skills; students will develop listening skills through collaboration, build interpretation and oral presentation skills through communication, and improve reading fluency through creativity. See how music can make full use of these skills through students’ aural, visual, analytical, creative and social intelligences. Your students will attain a new level of comprehension when they experience seeing, hearing, and feeling through their reading!